How I Plan on Disrupting the Auto Industry...in Red Heels

[Music]

i’m a beast at pillow parking i’ll just

let you know i live in philadelphia

my name is patrice banks and i’m going

to start by sharing a personal story

so six years ago i was an engineer

working for dupont

and it was one of those warm summer days

kind of like today where you can’t wait

to get outside to enjoy the weather

i was really unfocused at work thinking

about what i’m going to do on my lunch

break

so i logged onto facebook was browsing

around to pass the time

and i just posted this status

my car needs an oil change but i’m going

to get a mani pedi instead

now i like to be silly on social media

and i thought this manicure pedicure

status was going to get

some attention and probably some pretty

funny comments

i didn’t actually see the comments until

i got back from the nail salon later

that afternoon

where the guys were saying this is why

women shouldn’t drive and you’re going

to be stuck on the side of the road with

a blown engine

of course my ladies came to the rescue

by saying alicia look cute on the side

of the road while she’s waiting for a

guy to help her

or thumbing it for a ride my 28 year old

self

thought that this was funny my 30 year

old self thought

this was genius at 30 i called myself

an auto airhead because i was i

struggled to lift the hood of my car

i was turn the key and go

and because of this i did minimum

service on my car

i waited until the last minute to do

repairs

i would panic anytime something would go

wrong

i felt taken advantage of by mechanics

and i would rather get my nails done

than protect a

25 000 asset and it’s no

secret that this is the state of many

women in their cars today

auto airheads just like me but

it reflects on how we feel about the

automotive industry

up to 77 percent of women feel

misunderstood

by automakers and taken advantage of by

mechanics

and we are we’re guarded with our car

buying and repair decisions

right we think is this real

do i really need this does it cost this

much money

or am i being taken advantage of and we

think

do i have a husband or a brother or a

father

to help me so i’m not taken advantage of

but listen men don’t know a lot of this

stuff either the other day i was coming

out of the gym and i saw two guys trying

to jump start a car

and they were doing it wrong i so badly

wanted to go up to them and say hey guys

can i help you but i understand how

fragile the male ego is so i quietly

pass them by but the realization for

women in their cars today is this

we’re overwhelmed with simple

maintenance tasks we feel taken

advantage of

by mechanics and we often make poor

buying decisions with our cars i started

searching for a female mechanic

to help me and to share and surprisingly

my search came up

empty i don’t need statistics to tell me

what i already knew

i needed an education and so do millions

of women

out there i couldn’t find a female

mechanic

so i became one and i went back to

school for automotive technology

and started creating a vision for a

company that educates

and empowers women through their cars

and who better to teach you than an auto

air head turned auto attack

and guess what ladies we are the number

one customer

in the automotive industry women buy

more than

half of all new cars in the united

states and we

influence up to 80 percent of car

purchases

also did you know that 67 percent of

auto service and maintenance work is

requested

by women so we buy more cars than men

we take our cars in for repairs more

than men and for the first time in

history a study shows

that women hold more driver’s licenses

than men across

all age groups so that means there are

more women drivers than men

does that scare you guys more women

drivers

on the road well it’s here women spend

200 billion dollars a year

on buying and repairing their cars so

why do we have this huge disconnect

between women in the automotive industry

i believe it’s because there are

virtually no women that work in this

industry

less than two percent of mechanics or

technicians are women

and less than seven percent of auto

dealership service advisors

sales people and managers combined our

women

even though we prefer a female mechanic

or a female

car salesman so my question is this

why do we have so many women drivers and

so

few female mechanics and car sales

women well in my three-year journey so

far in the automotive industry

i have found that almost every single

woman will face discrimination

because of her sex big surprise right

but it’s blatant and i want to give you

an example of a recent experience of

mine

i was hired to go to a technical high

school to speak to an automotive class

about what it means to be a woman in the

automotive industry

the class was all boys about 40 students

and they didn’t believe that i was a

mechanic

they challenged me with questions to

test my car knowledge

they asked to see my hands they told me

i was a distraction

imagine a 15 year old girl who enjoys

cars

loves cars wants to work on them enter

into this field

five years from now she’s going to be

looking for a job from one of these guys

needless to say they got an earful from

me that day

but my point is there’s very little

support for women in the automotive

industry

for career growth and development

especially in car buying and repair

women get discouraged and frustrated

we’re often the first ones to be laid

off

or we drop out and go into an entirely

different profession

and because of that the industry does

not reflect

its number one customer it is heavily

dominated by men

who may or may not be trying to

understand the emotional need

that drives a woman to buy a car or

approve a repair service

the bottom line is this women feel

mistreated and misunderstood by this

industry

because there are so few women who work

in it and it is important that women are

included

in the entire automotive process from

concept

design and manufacturing to sales and

repair

women should be empowered to enter this

industry and given tools and support

for career growth and development so

two years after i could not find a

female mechanic

i created girls auto clinic and girls

auto clinic offers

automotive buying and repair services

based on trust

education inclusion and empowerment

it is my mission to disrupt the

automotive industry by catering to

my number one customer women and i want

to make

history with girls auto clinic not just

by creating a community of car savvy

women

but by creating opportunities for women

to sit at the table

in this industry across all levels

whether they want to be technicians

salespeople managers engineers

or ceos like mary barra of gm

so now today at 34 i want to reach every

woman driver in the united states

each woman who operates a car should

have

a good education of how her car works

and how to maintain it

a mechanic that she trusts and she

should feel confident about her car

buying choices

i want women to own their cars and

owning it means

knowing it girls auto clinic empowers

women to know their cars

no longer fear the mechanic or panic

when something goes wrong

i educate women by hosting free car care

workshops

where you’ll learn how to take care of

your car how to talk to a mechanic

and what to do in emergency the

workshops are designed to be interactive

and fun and women leave feeling

confident to handle

any issues with their car that may arise

if you can’t attend a workshop or for

car tips on the go i’ve also written a

book

for women called the girls auto clinic

glove box guide

it fits in your glove box and you’ll

reference it for things like dashboard

lights what do they mean

should i panic can i ignore it or

how often am i supposed to change my oil

it’s no longer

three thousand miles or every three

months and my personal favorite

do i really need that air filter the

mechanic tells me i need

every time i go in for an oil change the

glovebox guide includes tires

belts fluids and a lot of great

information

there’s pictures tips it’s going to help

you save money

and stay safe on the road and then i

also blog car tips on my website that

women get a kick out of because they’re

relatable

it’s everyday language and no over your

head

technical talk so for example one title

is does your car have boogies

where we talk about air filters another

if you think of your engine and this is

a this is a fan favorite

think of your engine like a vagina can

anyone tell me

the main purpose of engine oil

spit it out anyone know lubricate yes

so you don’t need to understand the

four-stroke engine but you do need to

know that your engine needs oil

your engine has fast-moving parts

rubbing up and down working hard to make

your car

go what happens when you have fast

moving parts rubbing up and down with no

lubrication

you ever notice when you need an oil

change your car runs

a little rough and then as soon as you

get one it’s running a lot smoother

almost singing or purring the single

most important thing

that you can do for your car is to get

your oil changed when it’s due

no low lube no dirty loop

i also know that women feel

misunderstood

mistreated disrespected when they’re

buying cars

so i assist and consult women with new

and used car buying

i want us all to feel and good and make

more confident

decisions when it comes to buying a car

so we know we have

a safe reliable car for a fair price

and the result of this education is that

women are empowered to learn more

and they feel good about their cars so

up next

i will be opening the first girls auto

clinic full

auto service repair shop in philadelphia

girls auto clinic repair will cater to

women

we will be hiring female mechanics

technicians and service advisors

there will be a beautiful clean and

welcoming lounge

tailored to women but the best part

about girls auto clinic repair

there will be a nail salon there so you

get your nails done while you’re waiting

for your car

thank you girls auto clinic

is a destination place where women can

come feel confident about themselves

their cars and their buying choices

they trust their auto service shop but

more importantly they trust

themselves to make the right decision

when it comes to their cars

i believe in girls auto clinic never has

there been a greater time to be a woman

in america than right now we are

becoming empowered

to take charge of things that we once

feared and avoided

and i know that we can rise to the

occasion when taking over our cars

and the automotive industry and i’m

ready for it

are you ready shecanics let’s do it

thank you and i hope to see you all at

my grand opening thank you